1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a weather strip for providing a seal between an opening and closing member for opening and closing an opening formed in a vehicle body, such as a vehicle door, a trunk lid, sliding roof, etc., and an opening portion of the vehicle body.
2. Description of Related Art
Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained based on an opening trim weather strip adapted to provide a seal between a door as the opening and closing member of the vehicle body, and a door opening portion thereof, for example.
Conventionally, a door weather strip provided along an outer periphery of a door frame of a door of a motor vehicle, a glass run attached to a channel along an inner periphery of the door frame, etc., and an opening trim weather strip attached to a flange along the door opening portion of the vehicle body provide a seal between the door of the motor vehicle and the door opening portion.
As shown in FIG. 1, an opening trim weather strip 10 is attached to a door opening portion 12 over an entire length thereof, and when a door is closed, the opening trim weather strip 10 contacts a door frame 14 or an outer periphery of a door panel to seal between the door opening portion 12 and the vehicle door. As shown in FIG. 2, a flange 16 is provided in the door opening portion 12 by bonding edges of an inner panel 18 and an outer panel 20 to each other through welding.
The opening trim weather strip 10 is attached to the flange 16 in a trim portion 22 with a generally U-shaped cross-section. A tubular seal portion 24 contacts a protruding part of the door frame 14, thereby sealing the same. An insert member 26 such as a metal insert, etc. is embedded in the trim portion 22 for increasing its holding force against the flange 16, and an outer side wall 28, an inner side wall 30 and a bottom wall 32 define a generally U-shaped cross-section.
As shown in FIG. 2, outer holding lips 32 and 34 and inner holding lips 36 and 38 are formed in an interior surface of the outer side wall 28 and an interior surface of the inner side wall 30 defining a generally U-shaped cross section for holding the flange 16. When the flange 16 is inserted into the trim portion 22, tip ends of the outer holding lips 32 and 34 and the inner holding lip 36 and 38 bend to contact side faces of the flange 16 closely, thereby holding the flange 16. As a result, the opening trim weather strip can be attached to the flange 16.
As described above, the flange 16 provided in the door opening portion 12 is formed by bonding edges of the inner panel 18 and the outer panel 20 to each other through welding, but the number of panels to be bonded depends on the position in the door opening portion 12, and varies from about one to eight. Therefore, the entire thickness of the flange 16 varies from about 0.5 mm to 7.0 mm in accordance with the position in the door opening portion 12.
As shown in FIG. 3, the opening trim weather strip 10 is formed by extrusion into a single body, and is connected via a joint 4 into a loop-like configuration.
As shown in FIG. 4, in another conventional opening trim weather strip 42 having a trim portion 44 and a tubular seal portion 46, a plurality of short outer holding lips 48, 50 and 52 are provided in an interior surface of an outer side wall 54 of the trim portion 44, whereas one long inner holding lip 56 is provided in an interior surface of an inner side wall 58. (see Publication of unexamined JP patent application No. 2007-30553, for example.).
In this case, the inner holding lip 56 flexes towards an interior of the trim portion 44, namely in the direction of a bottom wall 60 in accordance with the thickness of the flange 16, thereby holding the flange 16. However, the inner holding lip 56 contacts the flange 16 at only one point so that when the tubular seal portion 46 contacts a vehicle door, etc., and particularly the thickness of the flange 16 is as thin as 0.5˜1.5 mm, it is difficult to stop the turn of the trim portion 44 against the flange 16 clockwise or counterclockwise in FIG. 4.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, in still another conventional opening trim weather strip 62 having a trim portion 64 and a tubular seal portion 66, a plurality of short outer holding lips 68, 70 and 72 are provided in an interior surface of an outer side wall 74 of the trim portion 64, whereas one long inner holding lip 76 is provided in an interior surface of an inner side wall 78. And a projection 80 is provided at an end of the inner holding lip 76, which faces an opening of the trim portion 64, for contacting the flange 16 (see Publication of JP utility model application No. Hei5-62313, for example).
In this case, however, the distance between projection 80 and the end of the inner holding lip 56 is small so that when they contact the flange 16, the width for holding the flange 16 is small, and the projection 80 is located on the side of an interior of the trim portion 64, namely on the side of a bottom wall 82, as compared with a joint between the inner holding lip 76 and the inner side wall 78, whereby such a force as to stop the turn of the trim portion 82 against the flange 16 is small.
In addition, a projection 84 is provided along an end of the inner side wall 78 for preventing the inner holding lip 76 from flexing backwardly, but since the projection 84 is located away from a root of the inner holding lip 76, the projection 84 cannot operate except when the inner holding lip 76 greatly flexes backwardly, and consequently, the flange 16 cannot be sufficiently prevented from coming off the opening trim weather strip 62.
As shown in FIG. 6, in a further conventional opening trim weather strip 86, two outer holding lips 88 and 90 are provided in an interior surface of an outer side wall 92 of a trim portion 94, and two inner holding lips 96 and 98 are similarly provided in an interior surface of an inner side wall 100, and an end of each of the outer holding lips 88 and 90 and the inner holding lips 96 and 98 diverges to contact the flange 16 (see Publication of JP utility model application No. Sho58-168946, for example.).
In this case, the turn of the trim portion 94 against the flange 16 can be prevented to securely hold the opening trim weather strip 86 against the flange 16, but where the thickness of the flange 16 varies, the outer holding lips 88 and 90 and the inner holding lips 96 and 98 cannot sufficiently flex, and the contact area of an end of each of the outer holding lips 88 and 90 and the inner holding lips 96 and 98 against the flange 16 is great, thereby making the insertion of the flange 16 difficult.
As shown in FIG. 7, in still further conventional opening trim weather strip 102 having a trim portion 104 and a tubular seal portion 106, two outer holding lips 108 and 110 are provided in an interior surface of an outer side wall 112 of the trim portion 104, and two inner holding lips 114 and 116 are provided in an interior surface of an inner side wall 118. And a projection 120 made of a sponge rubber is provided at an end of the inner holding 114, which faces an opening of the trim portion 104, for contacting the flange 16 (see Publication of unexamined JP patent application No. Hei3-204358, for example.).
Since the flange 16 is held with the outer holding lips 108 and 110 and the inner holding lips 114 and 116, the turn of the trim portion 104 against the flange 16 can be prevented, but where the thickness of the flange 16 varies, the outer holding lips 108 and 110 and the inner holding lips 114 and 116 cannot sufficiently flex, similarly to the case shown in FIG. 6, thereby making the insertion of the flange 16 difficult. In addition, the projection 120 made of a sponge rubber closely contacts the flange 16 to seal the same, but does not exhibit a great holding force against the flange 16.